Best Fashion Dropshipping Suppliers for Smarter Store Growth

Selecting from the best fashion dropshipping suppliers is easy to say. When you run an actual clothing shop, however, you need to be prepared for more in depth considerations. Is the materials quality consistent? Will the supplier stock the best selling sizes? Can the supplier deliver to your customers’ address promptly? Are the margins still there once you take out the shipping, PayPal & payment gateway fees, advertising & returns?

Start With the Customer You Want to Reach

Before you compare, define the customer you want to serve.

A cheap women‘s fashion store may require more frequent new styles and comparable product prices. A street-wear shop may pay closer attention to the weight of the garments, the graphic designs, and unusual ideas. A sports outfitter needs fabric‘s that flex, breathe, and survive multiple wears.

Your customer location is just as important. If 99% of your orders arrive from the United States then you might want to choose a supplier with inventory in the United States or a dependable route for shipping into the country. European customers may induce different delivery expectations and regulatory issues.

Beginning with your customer makes your choice of suppliers much easier.

Decide What You Actually Need

Work out what you require from the supplier.

You may have a selection of clothing in stock that can be replenished with a simple order. Competition at a given store may want private-label products, needs specialized packaging, or will require own-label merchandise down the line.

Some sellers also use print-on-demand because they want to sell their own graphics without buying inventory ahead of time. Still, others want to test trends fast, so they work with suppliers that already has quick-turn around fashion collections.

The supplier picks you, not the other way round. Don‘t select a supplier just because they have hundreds of thousands of products. Choose a supplier that suits the method that you want to run your stores.

Order Samples Before You Trust Product Photos

Almostanything will look good when photographed from above.

But the physical item you sent to your customer.

Order samples before you commission the creation of an item for the advertisement. Get a feel for the fabric and weigh it. Compare the color with the photographs sent by your supplier. Try on the garments and see how they fit. Study the seams, the stitching, the zippers, the buttons, the prints, the embroidery, and the details.

Compare the size chart to measurements as well. Several centimeters difference can be a real nightmare to online shopping customer.

Shopify also suggests to consider the quality of product and have samples as one of the criteria for comparing supplier.

Calculate Your Real Margin

Supplier is attractive with a very low product price.

Let’s say you purchase a shirt at a price of $12 and sell it for a price of $32. This difference of $20 seems quite good until you add the costs of shipping, processing payment, platform fees, advertising, money back guarantee and miscellaneous operating costs.

You should see the full cost when you add a product to your store.

Inquire about the product‘s cost and get separate details for the shipping costs from the supplier. Determine your projected selling price, along with your other costs. If you don‘t feel the margin is strong enough prior to simply running an ad campaign, the product may not be right to be stocking in your store.

The goal must not be getting a lower supplier price. The goal must be finding a business model that allow you to put enough margin after the customer got the order.

Check Where the Supplier Ships From

A fashion store‘s shipping location can make a big difference in its economics.

Ask on what basis the goods are stored, where the stock is kept, and where would the orders of your customers leave stock from the warehouse. Even though most suppliers might be offering to deliver all over the world, they could be following wholly unrelated routes in various countries for delivery.

You should also consider processing time. Delivery time begins once the product has left the warehouse, so even if you say it is “seven days” shipping, it won‘t mean anything if your stock takes three days to get to the warehouse.

Compare the whole journey from your customer‘s order to its delivery.

Watch Inventory Before You Scale

A product may sell well one week and then create very serious issues the next.

Suppose you invest in advertising for a high selling product, for example a hoodie, only to find your stockist has sold out of the high selling sizes that you have been advertising. You could then lose sales, disappoint customers and have many valuable pounds of your advertising up in smoke.

See how the supplier controls his stock levels, and how frequently the stock position updates. Try and focus on sizes and colors that may be more in demand rather than just the overall number.

Another question to ask is what happens if a product is out of stock. Will the supplier inform you in time? Will you be able to take unavailable variants off your shop? How long does it take the supplier to stock them?

A huge product catalog is meaningless if your top products go missing when they are needed most.

Understand Returns Before Your First Sale

Clothing presents a unique return issue as the customer is unable to accurately gauge fit through the product page.

The customer may order the correct size from your chart and later believe that the fit is wrong. Another customer may open the packet and dislike the fabric, the color or the look and feel.

Check the supplier‘s return policy before you list the item.

Then, ask the following: who is responsible for paying the shipping costs for returned garment if the customer does not want it; the address to which the customer should send these garments; how exactly the supplier processes defective garments; the time frame in which a customer could receive a new or a replacement product.

You should also develop your own store policy regarding these circumstances. Your customer views the store and not the suppliers in the background of it so it helps to have a firm process when things such as these happen.

Check More Than Product Quality

Is good clothing quality enough in a dropshipping supplier? The simple answer is No.

You will also require accurate communication.

Send the supplier the questions you have in hand while you are beginning to sell: inquire about stock levels, shipping costs and lead times, samples, returns, packaging, personalization and processing time. Listen carefully to how the supplier responds.

Having a supplier that takes days to reply to the simplest query will only cause more woes when it comes to getting immediate assistance for a missing order.

You can also have a sample order of your own. Order a sample and track it through the cycle from purchase to arrive. This can give you an idea of how your customers will experience your process.

Consider the Difference Between Stock Fashion and Print on Demand

Your product strategy should help guide your choice of suppliers.

Drop Ship Stock Fashion. Drop shipping the clothing brands already on the market allows you to try out items without buying massive inventories. This can be useful when trying out various styles and keeping up with trends.

Print-on-demand operates on a slightly different basis. You submit your design and the manufacturer only colors in an item once a customer orders from you. That approach makes more sense if your business relies largely on cutting edge or inconventional artwork.

Neither model automatically wins. It is all about what provides your own store with a bit more of the product edge.

Test the Supplier Before You Scale

You do not need to make hundreds of orders to evaluate a supplier.

Start small.

Select a few different products to suit your store. Place an order for samples. test the delivery. look at the packaging. call customer services with real questions. look at the actual goods. compare with the images.

If the supplier is reaching on target you can add more products gradually.

This is an experience that a supplier directory cannot give you: the first hand experience of the whole customer journey.

Think About Your Next Stage

Dropshipping can work very well when you need to try out products before ordering bulk inventory. However, your needs can change once you begin to sell a product.

Your own fabric choices, labels, colors, packaging, measurements or garment construction is what you may desire eventually. Then you will feel you do not have enough control through a ready-made dropship product.

Now, you may compare dropshipping to private label, small-batch production and custom manufacturing.

That transition can also be beneficial to your margins once order volume starts to increase, but take the inventory risk and costs of production into consideration.

Check Product Labels When You Sell Into Regulated Markets

Another concern for these global fashion retailers is product data.

In particular, the U.S. rules stipulate that, in most cases, the fiber content, country of origin and responsible entity of the covered textile products have to be labelled. Otherwise, the responsible apparel industries must adhere to theFTC Care Labeling Rule , which requires caring instructions.

Discuss with your supplier how the garments can cater for these requirements before your start to list on a specific market. Do not presume that a supplier‘s label already cover all market requirements.

It is also your responsibilities to know the regulated rules on the products that you are selling.

Choose the Supplier That Fits Your Business

A company which is best supplier for one fashion store may cause problems for another.

Your decision should be made based on the overall image, product, customer base, performance history, inventory management, returns, communication, profitability and future plans.

Begin small by doing a simple test instead of placing blind faith in a supplier directory and low product prices. Allow real samples, real shipping time, and real customer-service to dictate the course of action.

Should your store finally venture past ready-made dropshipping products, then a producing partner capable of designing garments according to your own standards might be necessary.

JiuvelWear by Dongguan Jiuzuo Clothing Co., Ltd. helps brands develop custom apparel from sourcing the right fabric, developing, sampling, and bulk production, and quality control. Growth-oriented fashion companies have a route to start creating their own custom lines.